Game
by Karin Ochibi-chan
Summary: Everyone loses at least once in their life. Mariya Shidou is no different.


**Karin: Hey everyone. I started reading this manga yesterday and I was instantly hooked. This idea came into my head and I wanted to try it out. So here it is and hope you enjoy. **

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Maria Holic.

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**Game**

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It was all a game to him. He didn't know when he exactly started it or when he came up with it, but he quickly adapted to The Game. It was fun and entertaining to him; of course, he accepted The Game so easily.

The Game, as he dubbed it, was simple enough. Even a monkey could do it really—or a certain yuri girl, but he wasn't going into detail of her lack of intelligence at the moment.

Two reasons: One—because it would take up the entire day discussing her lack of intelligence and Two—because she was apart of The Game so there was no point even telling her about it.

Or rather, she _was _The Game.

You're probably wondering how a person could be a game, but then again, this was Shidou Mariya we're talking about—he's sadistic enough to make up a game revolving around a person for his own amusement.

The objective of The Game: to mess around with Miyamae Kanako's mind.

_Rules: _

_Don't let her know you pay special sadistic attention to her—it might give her some kind of bizarre ego boost. _

_Don't let up on her just because she's in one of her moping moods—it's more fun to screw with her when she's like that anyway. _

_You are _always_ the winner regardless of the circumstances. _

_Don't forget to have fun. _

See? A very easy game. It's been like that ever since he met her. Although he didn't come up with The Game until later on, he guessed that a part of him found himself attracted to her reactions when he skillfully manipulated her during their first encounter. He'd never seen someone so easily gullible and stupid.

_Ways to play The Game: _

_Go for direct approach and mock her for her moronic and perverted tendencies. _

_Go for discreet screwing of the mental state by doing something nice, but have an ulterior motive which she'll discover later and laugh as it destroys her life. _

There are also two others ways to play this game of his. They aren't used as much as the formal strategies listed above, but they weren't ignored either. For instance, he would turn on the "girl charm" making her forget he was a guy and watch her have a nose bleed from fantasizing about their "yuri love"—he had no idea what she called it, and frankly he didn't care about that crazy girl's obsession—then shatter her fantasy by turning back to his evil, mean, MALE self.

Another method isn't really a messing with the mental state rather than bringing out her phobia of men. When a male touches her, she breaks out in hives, which he makes a point to trail his fingers lightly on her cheek or chin while showing his sadistic nature to her. Her expression when he did that was priceless.

To this day, he still plays The Game without her knowledge. Matsuriko has questioned about some of the clues he demonstrated showing his special attention to the stupid yuri girl; however, he always evaded her inquiries without trouble every time. It was a private game for him alone.

It was his favorite game. And the results were endlessly satisfying.

As time passed though, The Game shifted. It was a small shift, though he felt it nonetheless. And the shift was a negative one on his part.

He was starting to be affected by _her_.

Mariya on no account showed this obviously. It wasn't in his character to give that fact away to anyone.

Nevertheless that, begrudgingly, didn't change the fact that it was _there_.

He touched her more often now. His fingers would trial to other places innocently besides her cheek and chin, curious to feel more of her skin—wondering what it would be like if she didn't break out into hives at his touch.

He also played the "girl charm" more too. Not just for her expression and gullibility at being fooled so easily, but what's more for the self-satisfaction he got knowing he could charm her like that—that a part of her might be attaching herself to him.

Then there was the intent observing he now did when he played The Game. His eyes took in anything and everything about her, committing it to memory like a man starving for days and now was handed a piece of meat. Not to mention whenever she talked, instead of tuning her out, he would assiduously pay attention, even when it was absolute nonsense.

It frustrated him.

Yet he still played. What harm could it do after all?

He was wrong. It did plenty of harm. He had fallen—hard and without a way to pick himself out of the hole. There was no way out for him.

Kanako didn't notice anything; not The Game or the emotional change that occurred inside his mind. Too busy in her goal of finding a romantic partner—plus, he was a brilliant actor. How else would he fool countless of people into thinking he was a girl?—a FEMALE romantic partner.

You see what this did to his already frustrated mental state?

It was bad enough he had gotten attached to the stupid girl, but it's even worse that said girl would never want him in a million years.

Why? Because he was MALE. Though he did dress up as a woman, in the end, it came down to the fact that underneath the wig and dress, he was a boy.

And she had a phobia of boys…

His grandmother once told him that if you tried hard enough, you can achieve anything. Honestly, he had to disagree in this case—he was sure his obaasan did _not_ mean this.

Yes, Kanako was attracted to him at times, but that was only when he acted like a female. Take off the dress and wig, she'd run for the hills screaming in terror.

Because he was a boy.

How to solve his problem? No solution, unless he got a sex change—there was no way in heaven or hell he was doing that so he's not even going to consider that option—or changed her preference. That in itself is difficult for she went to an all girl's school surrounded by bishoujo girls practically 24/7. Him dressing up as a girl constantly did not help much either.

So he was stuck in this vicious and ceaseless ending cycle. The Game was more of a habit than a delight he once relished in. The sadist in him used his annoyance and aggravation at his situation to fuel him in being cruel to her. It was her fault in the first place that she made him feel this way, and there was nothing he could do about it.

However, no matter how many times he played The Game, the third rule was automatically broken.

_You are _always_ the winner regardless of the circumstances. _

Not this time he wasn't. He lost big time.

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**Karin: so there you have it. Here's my first oneshot for this section. I hope to write more for this section soon. Reviews are highly appreciated and I hope you had fun reading this. Thank you everyone! **

**See ya Next time! **


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